BILL NUMBER: AB 124 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brownley and Solorio)
JANUARY 10, 2011
An act to amend Section 60811 of, and to add Section 60811.3 to,
the Education Code, relating to academic content standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 124, as amended, Fuentes. Academic content standards: English
Language Development Standards Advisory Committee.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more
pupils who are English learners to assess the English language
development of each of those pupils upon initial enrollment in order
to determine the level of proficiency of those pupils, and thereafter
to assess each of those pupils annually until the pupil is
redesignated as English proficient.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to approve
standards for English language development for pupils whose primary
language is a language other than English. Existing law further
requires that these standards be comparable in rigor and specificity
to the statewide academically rigorous content standards for English
language arts.
This bill would make a clarifying change to the provisions
relating to the standards for English language development.
This bill would establish a 13-member English Language Development
Standards Advisory Committee for the purpose of ensuring
high-quality instruction for English language
learners as the state implements the academic content standards in
English language arts. The bill would specify the appointing
authorities and qualifications of the members of the advisory
committee.
The bill would require the advisory committee to update, revise,
and align the English language development standards adopted pursuant
to existing law to the state board-approved academic content
standards for English language arts. The bill would also require the
advisory committee to present its revised and aligned English
language development standards to the state board on or before August
31, 2012. The bill would further require the state board to either
adopt or reject the standards presented by the advisory committee on
or before September 30, 2012.
The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
and the state board to present to the Governor and the appropriate
policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a schedule and
implementation plan for integrating the English language development
standards adopted pursuant to this bill into the state public
education system. The bill would also express the intent of the
Legislature that the State Department of Education use
certain federal funds to support the advisory committee's
work.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60811 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60811. The state board shall approve standards for English
language development for pupils whose primary language is a language
other than English. The standards shall be comparable in rigor and
specificity to the standards for English language arts adopted
pursuant to Section 60605 or Section 60605.8.
SEC. 2. Section 60811.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60811.3. (a) The English Language Development Standards Advisory
Committee is hereby established for the purpose of ensuring
high-quality instruction for English language
learners as the state implements the academic content standards in
English language arts adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8. The
advisory committee shall consist of 13 members, to be appointed as
follows:
(1) Four members appointed by the Governor.
(2) Three members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(3) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(4) Three members appointed by the Superintendent.
(b) The members of the advisory committee shall serve at the
pleasure of the appointing authority.
(c) At least seven of the members appointed pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be credentialed public elementary or secondary
classroom teachers possessing authorized certificates for the
instruction of English learners and who have a minimum of three years
of demonstrated experience instructing English learners in the
classroom. At least four of these credentialed teachers shall
represent elementary schools. The remaining members of the advisory
committee shall include representatives who are schoolsite
principals, school district or county office of education
administrators overseeing programs and support for English learners,
personnel of teacher training schools at institutions of higher
education, or curriculum and instructional specialists with English
learner expertise.
(d) The advisory committee shall update, revise, and align the
English language development standards adopted pursuant to Section
60811 to the state board-approved academic content standards for
English language arts adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8. The
English language development standards shall be aligned by grade
level, and shall be comparable to, and as rigorous and specific as,
the academic content standards for English language arts adopted by
the state board pursuant to Section 60605.8.
(e) Pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code), each meeting or hearing of the
advisory committee shall be open and available to the public.
(f) On or before August 31, 2012, the advisory committee shall
present its revised and aligned English language development
standards to the state board.
(g) On or before September 30, 2012, the state board shall do
either of the following:
(1) Adopt the English language development standards presented by
the advisory committee.
(2) Reject the English language development standards presented by
the advisory committee. If the state board rejects the standards
pursuant to this paragraph, the state board shall transmit to the
Superintendent, the Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature a specific written explanation of the
reasons why the standards presented by the advisory committee were
rejected.
(h) The Superintendent and the state board shall present to the
Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature a schedule and implementation plan for integrating the
English language development standards adopted pursuant to this
section into the state public education system, including, but not
limited to, incorporating the standards into the English language
development test.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department use
federal funds received pursuant to Title III of the federal No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to support the
work of the advisory committee.